Improvement in construction of railways



J. S. HYDE.

Construction of Railways.

No. 51,904. Patented Jany 2, 1866.

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11 .s .s 6 S In) 'eZ/2&4) W auw STATES PATENTrrrcG- WILLIAM PEET ANDMARIAN L. HYDE, OF` BROOKLYN, N. Y., ADMINISTRA- TORS OF THE ESTATE OFJAMES S. HYDE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

Specifica-tion forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,904, dated January2, 1866.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that JAMES S. HYDE, deceased, late of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, did invent certain new and usefulImprovements in the Construction of Railways; and we do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In the ordinary systems of constructin g cityrailways a light iron railis laid upon a longitudinal wooden sleeper or sill of' about the samewidth, which in turn rests upon a series of wooden cross-ties that arespaced about tive feet apart. The sills and cross-ties are sometimesmerely spiked together; but they are generally furnished with ironbrackets at their junction, which cannot be tted into their places untilboth the sills and ties are laid, owing to the necessity for cutting thewood in making the necessary adjustments. These fastenin gs are liableto become loose, and they require constant supervision and care to keepthem secure, so that the track maybe retained in its proper gage. Vhenrepairs arerequired in this timber substructure, as well as when it isfirst laid, it becomes necessary to remove the entire line of pavementbetween the rails in order to get at the fastenings and the bedding ofthe cross-ties.

The object of the said invention is to furnish an iron cross-tie thatwill not be liable to decay, and which will be easily made at first ofthe requisite size and form, so that the sills and rails to which it isapplied must necessarily be set at the desired gage without furtheradjustment, and which will lock into the longitudinal sleeper and beheld rmly in its place by the rail placed above it, so that thefastenings of the rail contribute materially and almost completely tothe consolidation of the entire structure. To accomplish this result thesaid invention consists in making the crossties with the ends bent atright angles at the exact distance required between the sills, so thatwhen the sills are placed against the ends thus turned up they requireno further adjustment for the gage. The ends of the ties are furtherturned over the upper surfaces of the sills into recesses mortisedtherein for their reception, and are again nally turned so that the endsmay be driven down into the body of the sills. It will thus be seen thatthe lirstmentioned angles in the ties prevent the sills and rails comingtogether, and that the outer angles of the ties that are sunk into thewood prevent their spreading, and that the rails placed upon them andsecured in the ordinary manner keep the ties in their places.

To enable others skilled in the arts to which it appertains to make anduse the said invention, I will proceedv to describe its construction andoperation with reference to the drawings.

Figure l is a cross-section of a railway constructed according to thesaid invention, with iron ties locking into the Wooden sleepers, andFig. 2 is a plan of the same drawn on a smaller scale.

The rails a are placed upon the longitudinal sills or sleepers b, towhich they may be secured in the usual manner. The cross-ties c areturned up on the inner sides of the sills, and then over the upper facesinto mortises cut for their reception, to leave a Hush surface for thebearings of the rails, and then nally down again, so that the ends turninto the sills, in which they are tightly driven in the manner shown, toprevent any undue strain upon the angles of the ties. A fastening, d, isused for which a screw, spike, or bolt is peculiarly adapted.

In carrying the invention into effect it is preferable to bed the sillsupon boards or planks c, that are somewhat wider than the sills, for thepurpose of extending the area of the support, and that have beenpreviously prepared with coal-tar, or asphalt, or other similarmaterial, to exclude moisture and prevent decay. The joints of the sillsand the planks should be made alternately to form a continuous anduniform support for the rails placed upon them. The planks are firstlaid in longitudinal trenches duly prepared for their reception. Thesills are then laid and secured and the ties placed in the few narrowtransverse trenches that may he required and driven into the sills andfastened 5 and, finally, the rails are laid and spiked or bolted intheir places over the ties, thus securing, with their fastenings7 thecombination of the ties and sleepers.

In a similar manner to that which has been described in connection withcity-railways, the said invention may be applied and used to any kind ofrails or chains Where the latter may be required.

It will be observed that the ties are spaced. Wider apart in thedrawings than is usual7 and this economy, arising from the invention ,ispermitted by the fact that the mortising of the ties into lthe sillsholds them more rigidly than is possible with any extraneous fastening,and

hence admits a less number being used with equal efficiency.

What We claim as the invention of the said JAMEs S. HYDE,deceased,anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the iron cross-tie with the Wooden sleepers, whenconstructed and arranged substantially as described.

WM. PEET. MARIAN L. HYDE.

Witnesses: FRANCIS K. MILLER, IsAAc L. MILLER.

